Embedded Files
Tooth & Nail
(For Bill Kaye)
sleep gets difficult
when rough men interrupt
to claim your gratitude
1
the discovery of those
great stone beasts
still standing guard
though the tombs themselves
were in many instances
no more than brass plates
making you lucky in games of chance
put another nail in the coffin
2
focus just concentrate
you’ll find the muffled
reports are clearly audible
out of an abundance
of caution sensing
them eye you spiralling
prices are confined
in the restless ward
3
he’s a decent skin
engaged with a process
swept by moods
like storms and unhappy
facelifts for the lowlifes
forcible transfer
hasn’t helped the pronouns
follow you around the room
4
the walls suppurate behind
a chorus of dry heaves
survive a sprawl of causes
and the worldwide price
of lab-monkeys has crashed
despite value-engineering
scarred with gold
grown indescribably foul
5
here goes the passing rain
coming in off the sea to where
a street no longer exists
cheapjack cold chains
where time stands still bestow
a due sense of occasion
despite such interesting
derivatives hedge risk
6
look at me look at me
you know what mangled
incidents occurred
no holding facility
is a fixed abode
when ongoing deliberative
processes cancel all want
they’re fine considering
7
distressed yourself you
radiate distress
getting off at the zoo
the semblance of a human
character experienced
grip rip and drip
calculated to ascertain
further details
8
verve and pathos
taking refuge in
screams and vociferations
disturb the other patients
those pools of flesh
the facts on the ground
another of the great forcing
agents of history
Vestiges
(For Jim Mays)
1
the scene of a murder
may be only a few millimetres across
and yet it is a precious thing
so the awkward position
of a body considering
the elegant properties of light
should always be the subject
of an image quick or still
2
good habits serve us well in fixing
the position of shallow objects
the use of which at the time
may not be immediately obvious
for how the explosive material
was integrated into the afternoon
made it extremely difficult to detect
until it began to blossom
3
children are seldom known
to die of grief to kill
themselves in the violet
evenings or go mad
on the death of their parents
they may be found hiding
covered in tangled hair
and rocking silently
4
objects likely to change
their name or appearance
should be photographed
immediately following
an incredibly violent jailbreak
footprints are fragile appearances
to be wrapped prudently in vivid cloth
before impressions are made
Coals
(For Titaś Biswas)
1
do i mean surgical
or clinical
and does it matter
2
anyway as they
had surely struck
a nerve then
3
thinking back on
that wild talk
of village taking
4
place of village
person person
and so fear is yet
5
again playing
out in anxious markets
wherefrom figurines
6
wanting individual
or identifiable
characteristics
7
but fraught with fragile
charm filmed
through a window
8
facilitating observation
at a safe remove
find now themselves within
9
such shuddering
dressed up in crisp white
sheets of flaming air
Sly Furniture
(For Nika Skandiaka)
1
she turned and left the room
as many events and common
occurrences are readily described
by sleep-disordered breathing
which serves as a permanent record
and can easily be referred to
as an aid to memory
2
this particular kitchen
came to be of public interest
through a sudden charge
of attempt with offensive
weaponry hotly preferred
against a servant girl who had made
a brutal attack on her mistress
3
whereupon an operative burst
abruptly into puzzling song
but quickly then gave way
to changes in sleep architecture
and smoke rises from the sites
most of which are too distressing
to show an end to devastation
4
frequently horrified for sure
but if there were nothing else
no easiness then there were
nothing they were deprived of
neither loss to grieve so see
the light move feel curious
warmth settle on the skin
5
with identical results and likely
identical causes too and yet
to say so were a nonsense
since how could you say
what were the causes what
results as the great swags of rain
washed against the windscreen
6
such disturbances were regarded
as secondary and tonal wobble
on the part of a road where a crime
has been committed or where
a fatal accident has occurred
though associated with increased
risk is also shrill and very useful
7
doors and windows are important
the height of the ceiling should be given
a suitable scale will suggest itself
to an intelligent mind having knowledge
as t for table p piano c chair and so forth
with curtains dummies backdrops
costumes masks who’s there I repeated
Trevor Joyce co-founded New Writers’ Press in Dublin in 1967, and the SoundEye Festival in Cork in 1997. He currently lives in Cork. His most recent book is Conspiracy (Veer, 2024). A second edition of What’s in Store will appear from Shearsman in 2025. He is a member of Aosdána, the Irish affiliation of creative artists.
Copyright © 2025 by Trevor Joyce, all rights reserved. This text may be used and shared in accordance with the fair-use provisions of Copyright law. Archiving, redistribution, or republication of this text on other terms, in any medium, requires the notification of the journal and consent of the author.
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